Category: Burma

Burmese Language

• Myanmar Sagar — Spoken Burmese
  Predates the written language
• Myanmar Sar — Written language
  First appeared as the fourth and final language of the Mya Zedi Kyauksar (stone inscription).
  An early Indo-Tibetan script was used to write Burmese.

Burmese Department

• The Department of Oriental Studies at Rangoon University gave degree courses in Pali.
• Saya U Pe Maung Tin requested to have a Burmese Department as a sub-department of Oriental Studies.
• Burmese later became a separate Department.

Early Alumni

Saya U Pe Maung Tin was proud of his students — Theikpan Maung Wa, Zawgyi and Minthuwun — for founding the “Khit San Sar Pay”. He would express Mudita (Altruistic Joy) for their talents and achievements.

• U Sein Tin, ICS — Theikpan Maung Wa
  Victim of a botched robbery. We had to study his “Wut Htu Saung Par”.
• U Thein Han — Zawgyi; Laureate Poet; Literary Award winner. Taught at Burmese Department. Retired as Chief Librarian, Rangoon University Central Library.

• U Wun — Minthuwun; Head of the Translation Department of Rangoon University; Compiler of “Myanamr Abhidan”; For a short period, served as Burmese Professor at RU; Visiting Professor at Osaka University for four years

• Daw Khin Saw Mu — Khit San Kabyar
  Spouse : ICS U Ba Tint ; Children : Daw Khin Saw Tint, U Nay Oke

• U Tin Aye — Shan Pyay; Pinlon Agreement signer; Succeeded U Wun as Head of Translation Department

Sayas and Sayamas

Burmese Sayas (at University)

• U E Maung (pronounced as Aye Maung)
  served as its first Professor. His compilation “Garland of Kabyars (Poems)” was a prescribed text for my elder siblings. Spouse : Daw Khin Mya Mu was an expert in reading and transcribing Kyauk Sar (Inscription)

• U Chan Mya — Mya Ketu
• U Toe Aung — Kutha
• U Hla Maung — Abhiddhama
  later served as a Member of the Burmese Language Commission / Myanmar Sar Ah Phwe
• U Sunn Tun (Mandalay) — “Shay Tho” series
• U Kyaw Yin — Kathika U Kyaw Yin
  later served as Rector of MASU
• U Po Kyaw Myint
• Daw Than Swe
• Daw Po — Taught in our I.Sc.(A) class; Staff Sayama at Inle Luyechun Camp in the Summer of 1965; later became Professor
• Maung Khin Min Danuphu — Professor

RIT Burmese

• U Tein Kyi — Head of RIT Burmese Department; later moved to Regional College
• U Soe Myint — succeeded U Tein Kyi as Head
• U Saw Tun — Saw Lu; later became Head of Burmese Department at NIU
• U Kyaw Hlaing — later taught Burmese at Hawaii University and Center of Burmese Studies in Northern Illinios

St. Paul’s High School

• U Pe Tin — Middle School
• U Nge — Middle School
• U Nyunt Maung — High School
• U Sein — High School
  His son Dr. Soe Win (SPHS58) stood First in Burma and is Retired Rector of YUFL
  U Thet Lwin (Maung Ngwe Hlinne) was also a student of Saya Sein

Prescribed Texts

They include

• Myanmar Thadda (Burmese Grammar) by Saya U Pe Maung Tin
  which we studied in Middle School
• Kabyar Pan Kone (Garland of Flowers) compiled by Saya U E Maung
  which was prescribed for High School before our days
• U Pon Nya Wutthu Paung Kyote compiled and annotated by Saya U Wun
  which we studied in High School
• Poems by U Kyin U
• Selections from Zat Taw Gyi Hse Bwe (e.g. Mahosadha)
• Pyazat (e.g. Deva Gomban)

Burmese Language Commission

• Also known as Myanma Sar Ah Phwe
• Bohmu Ba Thaung, Head of Burmese Department at DSA, was an early member of the Commission
• U San Lwin (DSA First Batch) served as Chair of the Commission
• In the 1980s, several History Commission members were assigned to the Myanma Sar Ah Phwe
• The Commission published books, e.g. on Spelling and Proverbs

Decline of Formal Burmese

• The Commission revised the Burmese spelling twice. Some revisions were ill-advised.
• Authors and publishers were fined ten pyas for each violation of the spelling rules.
• Many classic texts were ruined when every occurrence of TA had to be replaced with TIT to please the whims of the higher authorities. The rhyme and rhythm of the beloved texts were lost.

• The rise of the Internet was sadly accompanied by the decline of Burmese usage and the adoption of slangs and abbreviations in messages, blogs and even articles.

• The Union Bank of Burma issued Burmese Currency notes backed by Gold Reserves.
• The bills were signed by authorities (e.g. Sithu U Kaung, U San Lin).
• One US dollar traded at 5 – 6 kyats, and one Sterling pound around 12 – 13 kyats.

Old Receipt from 1979

• The Old Receipt (for 146 Kyats and 50 Pyas) is a testament of the purchasing power in the 70s.
• It was for a farewell dinner for Saya U Myo Win (M/Ag65) by 25 members of the RIT Automobile Club.

Decline in the value of the Kyat

Three rounds of Demonetization, mismanagement, … saw a huge decline in the value of the Kyat.

Snap shots of the exchange rate :

• 1 Kyat = 4 (or more) Bahts (Early days)
• 1 Kyat = 1 Baht (Baht Taik Kyat Taik Khit)
• 4 (or more Kyats) = 1 Baht

• Four decades ago, a Palmist friend told me that I would own 10 Lakhs.
  The top prize for the “Aung Bar Lay” Lottery was 1 Lakh.
  A professor’s monthly salary was K1300.
  A lecturer earned 800 – 1200 kyats.

• A few years back, my friend had to pay 10 Lakhs for a visit to a hospital in Yangon.
• Another friend had to pay 800+ Lakhs to a hospital in Singapore. Luckily, he had inherited a fortune from his parents.

• The photo was taken around 1913 or 1914.
• Dr. U Ohn Pe (the elder brother) studied Medicine in India.Medical College was not opened yet in Myanmar in those days.
  Retired as Director of Malaria, Ministry of Health. Awarded “Wunna Kyaw Htin”
• U Khin Maung Gyi (the younger brother) was 3 or 4 years old. He received BA in 1930. He became BCS (Sr. Branch) in 1950.
  He received BL in 1953.
  
  He had three daughters. The youngest is Daw Mae Khin Nyunt (Rosie Gyi, ChE71). She posted additional photos in the RU Centennial Facebook pages.

The Burmese Alphabet has 33 Eik Khaya (letter or character).

There are several groups (Wagga) of five letters.
The first group (known as “Ka” wag [or wagga]) consists of က Ka / Ka gyi, ခ Kha / Kha Gway, ဂ Ga / Ga Nge, ဃ Ga / Ga Gyi and င Nga.
Linguists and phonologists have explained how and why they are grouped.

The 3rd and 4th members of a group have the same sound.

There are some basic rules for “Pa Sint“ ပတ်ဆင့် where one letter is placed on top of the other).
A rule says “Eik Khaya Tu, Wag Tu Sint”. It means the two letters forming a “Pa Sint” must be the same (အက္ခရာတူ) or from the same group (ဝဂ်တူ). So, it is a “No No” to have a က Ka on top of စ Sa.
Another rule says, “Even for letters within a group, the ordering must be preserved”. So, က Ka can be put on top of ခ Kha, but not the other way. Also, ဂ Ga Nge can be put on top of ဃ Ga Gyi, but not the other way.

A language has two forms : Oral form (e.g. Myanmar Saga) and Written form (e.g. Myanmar Sar).

အ is used as a ဗျည်း Byee (Consonant) and sometimes as a သရ Thara (Vowel).

A Burmese word can be formed with a Byee and one or more Thara.

When the Burmese Keyboard was implemented for a typewriter (e.g. Olympia), the keys are labeled Red (keys that prevent the shifting of the carriage to type Thara) and Black (keys that signal the completion of the word and allows the carriage to advance).

The early Burmese word processing systems use (a) transliteration (e.g. on Mac) (b) Thara before Byee (as in the typewriter) (c) Byee followed by Thara (which requires processing to delimit the words and to have a canonical ordering for representation).

The rush to implement Burmese type faces and type fonts without consensus led to the incompatibility issues in the current computer systems, smart phones and devices.

Intermediate College

• During a period, students at the University of Rangoon [and Mandalay] attended Intermediate (A) classes for a year, but they did not have to take the examination.
• They then attended Intermediate (B) classes for a year. They then take the examination for both courses.

Compart System

• There used to be two examinations for a class.
  The students have two chances to pass.
• The first examination was usually held in March.
  Those who pass all subjects are eligible to apply for stipends and grants.
• Those who pass at least three subjects have to take the remaining subjects in the second examination, which was usually held in June.

Saya U Ba Toke

• Saya was born in December, 1920.
• He attended Mandalay University.
• He joined the Students’ Strike Camp, and missed the first examination held in March.
• The strike ended, and Saya took all the subjects in the second examination and passed.
• He wanted to attend the Faculty of Engineering in Rangoon, but he needed a stipend. He could not get the stipend because he did not take the first examination.
• Saya’s teachers persuaded him to take Mathematics Honors in Mandalay.

Dr. Tint Lwin

• He took the Pure Science option for I.Sc.
• He attended engineering classes for a while, but he changed his mind to study Medicine.
• He took the classes needed to study medicine (e.g. Biology) and the supplementary exams.
• Finally, he was admitted to the MBBS classes.
• During his university days, he was a University Goalkeeper. He played with Collegian Nay Win, Tun Kyi and Kenneth Shein.
• After retirement, he moved to the USA.

• A US professor was startled when a Burmese student proudly claimed that he had all-round Ds (for distinctions) back in Burma. In USA schools, “D” means grade 1 (lowest), and “A” means grade 4 (highest).

• In the initial stages of the new education system, a student must have at least 75% attendance; otherwise one cannot take the examinations.
• Getting a grade 1 in any subject means failing the whole examination.
• To pass the examination, each paper must have at least a grade 2, and the average grade must be at least 2.5.
• Some professors are not keen on making too many moderation.
  Some students got penalized for “not taking minor subjects seriously”.

• In ’64, there were three intakes.
• About 500 students were admitted to the first ever 1st B.E. Also, their admission was based not on total marks, but on the controversial ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate), using the “distribution curve” for each subject.
• About 320 students were admitted to the first ever 2nd B.E.
• About 200 students were admitted to the first ever 3rd. B.E.
  Saya U Myo Myint Sein (A) would say that Saya Sai Yee Laik (A 68) stood “first and last in his class”.

• In the “newer” education system, a student needs 5 years to get a B.E.
  One gets an AGTI after the first two years, and a B.Tech after another two years.

• The terms “old” and “new” are relative.
• We took the last ever 7th std Government exam in 1960.
• The “new” system had 8th std Government exam.
• We took the first ever High School Final /HSF only (9th std Government exam) in March ’62 with the security forces patrolling the city.
  The exam results were annulled, and we were asked to take another exam a few months later.
• In the “old” system, the students take the HSF & Matriculation combined exam.
• We took the first ever Matriculation only (10th std Government exam) in May ’63.
• Consequently, those who were one year senior to us in High School graduated two (or even 2.5) years ahead of us.

• In an “old, old” system [following second world war], anyone who is confident can [take “jump promotions’ and] take the HSF & Matriculation exam.
• When Rangoon University reopened in 1946, three siblings Dr. Pe Nyun, Dr. Pe Thein and their sister — joined entered the University together.
  
• The “old” Rangoon University allowed “compartmental” system.
  One needs to re-sit only the subjects that one failed (in the first exam – usually in March) in the “supplementary” exam – usually in June.
  Note however that those who apply for scholarships/stipends must pass all subjects in the first exam.
• Sayagyi U Ba Toke did not take the first exam because he was in a college strike camp.
  He was the sole student to take and pass all subjects in the supplementary exam, but without access to scholarship/stipend and with persuasion from the Mathematics teachers, he struck off the choice of becoming an engineer.
  For details, read the book by Saya Dr. Khin Maung Swe (“Maung Thinchar”, GBNF).

RIT won the Inter-Institute Chinlon Championship in the 60s.

• U Tin Shein (M69)
• Dr. Htin Aung (C69)
• U Soe Tint (64 Intake)
• U Myint Than (M71)
  
• Uzin Chan Min (B.Com)